Armored floor structure



N 1934- .1. M. KEOWN 1,982,110

ARMORED FLOOR STRUCTURE Filed June 23, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .Nov. 27, 1934. J. M. KEOWN 1,982.110

ARMORED FLOOR STRUCTURE Filed June 23, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m .rQnM- O O Patented Nov. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARMORED FLOOR STRUCTURE dell Application June 23, 1932, Serial No. 618,923

12 Claims.

This invention relates to floor structures, particularly to a construction for providing a wear resistant surfacing for floors, stair treads, and the like.

A general object of the invention is the provision of a structure of composite character, comprising metallic elements combined with floor surfacing material, which will possess desirable wear-resisting qualities and afford a tread surface having desirable frictional characteristics designed to prevent slipping.

Another object is the provision of such a construction in which the dissimilar component materials are combined and bonded together in a manner effective to hold them securely in a, unitary structure.

Yet another object is the provision of a structure of the sort above specified in which the dissimilar component materials are securely bonded in a unitary structure, yet a limited displacement of portions of one with respect to the other is accommodated within the structure.

Yet another object is the provision of a floor surfacing structure made up of metallic and nonmetallic elements combined in such fashion as to form unitary sections and to provide for the effective interlocking of the sections to one another.

Other and further objects will be pointed out or indicated hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon an understanding of the invention or its employment in use.

For the purpose of aiding in explanation of the invention, I show in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and hereinafter describe, certain structural embodiments of the invention, but it is to be understood that these are presented for purpose of illustration merely and are not to be construed in any fashion calculated to limit the appended claims short of the true and most comprehensive scope of the invention in the art.

In said drawings,

Fig. 1 represents top marginal views of two formed strips or bars. suitable for use in the structure;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of one of said bars;

Fig. 3 is a top or plan view illustrating a section of a floor structure embodying the invention, said view showing part of the structure in completed condition and part in uncompleted condition and part in cross section;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of grating constituting part of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a completed sec tion of a floor structure embodying the invention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of a similar section, showing the side opposite that shown in the side margin;

Fig. 7 is a top view, of a floor structure comprising a plurality of conjoined sections; and

Fig. 8 is a detail showing a section along a joint, approximately on line ,88 of Fig. '7.

It is desirable that floor surfaces have certain frictional characteristics which will afford secure footholds and prevent slipping of people who walk upon them. It is also desirable that they possess effective wear resistant qualities.

It is sometimes desirable that they have certain yieldable qualities, for the purpose of making them comfortable under foot. It is particularly desirable that they hold to shape and be proof against warping, separation and disintegration. It is also desirable that they be qualified to support substantial weight without permanent deformation. Few, if any, materials suitable for floor surfacing possess in themselves all of these desirable characteristics. A metal, for example, may possess the desirable wear resistant quality, yet with use, metal surfaces become smooth and slippery under foot. Various mastics have desirable frictional characteristics and yieldable quality, yet are not qualified to sustain heavy weight or. resistwear. The combination of different materials into a unitary floor surfacing structure of such character that it will afford the desired characteristics in use and yet retain structural integrity is a matter of considerable difficulty.

The present invention provides a floor surfacing structure made up of metallic components, in the nature of grating, and other components, in the nature of a body material, such as a mastic, concrete, or the like, so combined as to avail of the desired characteristics of the different materials and to maintain them securely united in the desired relationship and condition. The nature of the invention will be most'quickly ascertained from'a consideration of particular examples illustrated in the drawings and now to be described.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the structure, as represented in Fig.3, comprises a metallic fabric in the nature of a grating or network, made up of a plurality of sinuously formed bars or strips 10, one of which is shown in side elevation in Fig. 2, and two of which are shown in separate relationship in Fig. 1. The form of these bars provides oppositely directed 70 I i through the apertures l5,;and 1'6. 'In "Fig. i is bights 11 and 12, regularly formed throughout the length of the bars, said bights having portions of appreciable length extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bar and. lying in planes parallel to each other. For convenience of designation, I will refer to these portions of the bights as contact portions, and to the intermediate por-tions 14 as spacer portions. As seen in Fig. 2, the contact portions are provided with apertures 15 therethrough in their middle areas, said apertures terminating considerably short of the adjacent spacer portions 14,;and -the-spacer portions are provided with apertures '16. In the fabrication of the grating, rthe barsare placed on edge in collateral relationship with the contact portions 11 of one bar in contact-with the oppositely displaced contact portions 12 of the adjacent bar and with the :apcrtuse 15 ref the juxtaposed contact portions in register, and the juxtaposed bars are permanently connected to each other by connections iormed ,at opposite sid s f th apertu es. One .manner "in which such connections mayj'beformedisby spot weldi and in the examples here presented spot weld connections are'indicated, at C. ,As ameasure for facilitating the making of such spot weld connections, the bars may ,be formed initially with slight embossments' TB, as illustrated in Fig.1, to afford current concentrating contact points betweenthe juxtaposed bars. .Atthe completionbf the connections, however, the contact Portions dj ent .bars are in close,.-abutment, assh'own in Fig. ;3. :Byvir'tueof the connections *ofthe bars thus formed, thecontact portions of the juxtaposed bars are secured tic-each other in definitely fixed relationship at opposite sides of the apertures, so that the contact portions or one "bar cann t b shifted "or deflected in any direction relative to those of the adjacent bar. This is ,a feature of importance, as hereinafter pointed out. Uniting of the bars aslabove tiescribedprovides a grating fabric affording jinces .117, here shown as of hexagonal form,

' said interstices being in communication with one another throu h the apertures 15 and 16.

A n twork or gratin of the desired extent having thus been fabricatedby the connection of aplurality of the bars arranged and connected as "above described, .a suitable body material or fi l ng material is incorporated-with the gratin This body material is appliedin a plastic condition andin uantitysuchas to fill the interstices of the grating Itrnayibe concrete or similar .cementitious conglomerate, .a mastic composition, rubber, or other plastic .or .moldable material hayingthe desired characteristics. .It .is applied under .sufiioientkpressure to insure its completely filling interstices and-portions of it occupyillflqthflzfilifiRtWI'QSlS and 16,, whereby the portions of bodvxsmat rial in "different interstices rare bonded to eachother through the intervenin bar mortioms. Q11 :the tread surface, the body material is ileve-l'led off with the margins of the bars.

"in Fig. 3 is shown a section -of -=the grating, part of same being filledwith the body maiterial, as in heated at 18, and par'tnot yet 'fil-ledQthe-portion at the'lower right hand corner being shown in sectionto illustrate the bonding connections hown a va an f rm f ratuis, which difiers from that sh ivnfin Ili'ig; 3 in the particular that thealternate ar' iarc'nrovidedwith the apertures 1.6;, the intervemn bars not having such apertive to theapertures 15 is of advantage particu-' larly in a structure wherein the body material is of y-ielda'ble/character, as it holds the connected bar portions '11 and 12 in fixed relationship and prevents the shearing off of the bonding portions of the body material occupying the apertures 15. Eorlillustration, rawheavy local loading of one of the bars, as on one of the spacer portions 14, would tend to displace it downwardly relative to the adjacent @bars, :and thus produce -a shearing ,action between ,the connectedportions 11 and '12 .acrossthe apertures 1-5. Such localloadingof one of the bars likewise might tend to pull/its contact portions-away from those of theadiacent bars and exert tensionuponbcnding portions of .the .body material in the apertures 15. By fixedly connecting the abutting contact portions of ad- J'acent bars .at ,points spaced longitudinally relative to the apertures ,15, such relative movement of the contact portions is .deflnitelyprevented, and the integrity of the :bondsiof the bod-y lmaterial through the apertures :1-5;-is accordingly safeguarded.

In addition to attending .a bonding connection between the difierent areas of body material and between the bodymater-ial and the bars, the provision of the apertures ,15 and 16 accomplishes ,aiurther beneficial result inastructure wherein the bodymaterial remains in a-more or lessplastic or elastically deformable ,conditiomby providing pressure-relieving channels forsthe portions'of .body material which are otherwise segregated and circumscribed by the .bars. 7 For illustration, if the portion ofQsemi-plastic or elastically deformable body material 1 within one .of the interstices were subjected to a heavyloading, the pressure would tend to spread or displace it outwardly, and possibly ,displace some of it over the margins of the encompassing bars, where such displaced portions might be sheared .ofi against the bars, as by the rolling of {a heavy article of furniture ,over them. The provision of the apertures 15 and 16 :at dif ferent sides of the segregated areas-of body material ,afiords relief channels accommodating the elastic displacement of some :of the material from a heavily loaded area and thus decreases the likelihood of the material being crowded onto the upper margins of the bars. In instances Where the body material is of rigid character, suchyas concrete, the provision of the apertureslfi-atthe various sides of the segregated areas affords bearing-s whereby pressures imposed \upon the segregatedarea of body material are distributed to the several bar portions which encompass that area.

Floor structures of the construction above described may be constructed at the place ofl-ine stallation by providing the grafting in conveniently sized sections, assembling the sections of gratinglin the desired location-by disposing them in proper relation-ship on .the floor ,slab or other floor structure of the building, and -then=filling plete sections having thegrating and body mate:-.

not

rial permanently combinedbefore the-structure is taken to the place of installation, the individual completed sections then being assembled and combined with one another on the job to cover the desired floor area. 1

In Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive are illustrated features of the invention which have to do particularly with the interfitting of such separate grating sections or complete structure sections for the purpose of holding them in the desired relationship through mutual cooperation of the sections with one another. Fig. 5 illustrates a com pleted section of the structure in the form that it may be turned out at the factory, the grating and body material being permanently combined to form a unit of convenient size and form. It will be observed that at the ends of the sections the grating bars terminate at approximately the median line of the connected contact portions, so that the apertures 15 present notches which open at the ends of the section, and that at the ends the body material is formed out flush with the ends of the bars and is formed with a groove 20 aligning with said notches. It will also be observed that along the side margins of the section the body material is formed out flush with the outer faces of the contact members 11 and 12. Along one side of the section the apertures 15 of the contact members are left void, while along the opposite margin of the section, which is illustrated in Fig. 6, one of the apertures 15 is left void while the others are occupied by portions of the body material which extend therethrough and project as lugs 21. These lugs 21 are of such size as to fit in apertures 15 at the margin of a similar section.

Sections of this character may be made up conveniently by the use of a mold in which the section of grating is placed and filled with the body material, the mold being provided with suitable elements for forming the grooves 20 and lugs 21 and maintaining the desired apertures 15 void.

When a number of the sections so formed are assembled with one another, margin to margin,

the lugs 21 of one section are fitted into void marginal apertures 15 of the juxtaposed section or sections, thus forming an interlock for maintaining the abutting margins of the sections in the same horizontal plane and maintaining the abutting sections against relative longitudinal movement. Such an assembly of sections is illustrated in Fig. '7, the sections in adjacent courses here being shown in broken joint relationship.

For connecting the sections which are abutted end to end, a key or spline 22 is provided, same being of such size as to fit closely in the end grooves 20 of the abutted sections, thus to hold them in the same plane. Such spline may be of sufficient length to extend across the ends of a plurality of sections, thus to key together collaterally abutted sections as well as the endabutted sections. In the broken joint arrangement illustrated in Fig. 7, the keys are of such length as to extend at their ends beyond the What I claim is: 1. An armored fioor structure comprising, in combination, a plurality of sinuously formed metallic bars arranged on edge in collateral relationship and having longitudinally spaced contact 1 portions of juxtaposed bars in lateral abutment, said laterally abutting contact portions having apertures therethrough spaced from their upper and lower margins, and said abutting contact portions being rigidly fastened together on opposite sides of their apertures, the plurality of bars thus secured to one another forming a grating,

and a filling of coherent body material filling the interstices of said grating and having portions which occupy adjacent interstices bonded tol gether through said apertures.

2. An armored floor structure as specified in claim 1 and wherein the body material is of elastically deformable character.

3. An armored fioor structure as specified in claim 1 and wherein the respective bars have spacer portions extending transversely of their longitudinal axes, said spacer portions being provided with apertures therethrough, and the body material has portions occupying said last mentioned apertures.

4. An armored floor structure as specified in claim 1 and wherein the abutting portions of juxtaposed bars are secured together by welds located adjacent opposite sides of the respective apertures.

5. An armored floor structure comprising a sectional unit made up of a section of reticulated grating with a filling of body material filling the interstices thereof, the elements of said grating having apertures therethrough located between the upper andlower surfaces of the body material and the body material having portions occupying said apertures and bonding together the portions of body material in different interstices, said grating having portions extending to the end and side margins of the section and provided with apertures open at said margins for accommodation of anchoring elements, the body material at the margins of said section being fiush with the outer surfaces of said grating portions.

6. An armored floor structure comprising a plurality of sectional units as specified in claim 5, said units having lugs extending from a margin thereof for fitting in marginal apertures of the grating of other sections, for the purpose of interengaging one section with another at their margins.

'I. An armored floor structure comprising a plurality of sectional units constructed as specified in claim 5 and adapted to be abutted marginally with their upper surfaces in the same plane, together with a key adapted to engage in the marginal grating apertures of abutted sections for the purpose described.

8. An armored fioor structure comprising a plurality of sectional units as specified in claim 5 and wherein the upper margins of the grating elements form a regular pattern which is continuous from section to section when the sectional units are assembled in marginal abutment.

9. An armored floor structure as specified in claim 5 and wherein portions of the margins of the section are formed by portions of the grating and other portions of the same margins are formed by portions of the body material.

10. An armored floor structure unit comprising a section of metallic grating formed of sinuously shaped bars rigidly connected to one another at intervals spaced longitudinally thereof, said bars having apertures therethrough spaced iromtheir upper and lower margins, a filling of body material filling the interstices of the grating :flush with the upper and lower margins of the bars and I 5 bonded together through said apertures, said unit having straight margins formed in part by portions of the outer bars and in part by portions of body material occupying re-entrant sinuosities of said outer bars and held in place by said bond- 11; An armored floor structure comprising a plurality of units constructed as specified in claim iIO'and wherein the upper margins of the bars .form a regular pattern, said units having means for in terengaging one with another at their mar .gins. with marginal 3 bar portions of juxtaposed units in abutment. 1' 

